The sliding doors of the corner store groan shut behind Esmond, spitting him out into the stale breath of the city night. A tallboy clinks against the cigarette pack in the plastic bag slung from his wrist, the cold weight of cheap booze already steadying his hands for an hour. The kind of drink you don’t sip. The kind of night that asks nothing of him.

The sidewalk stretches ahead, cracked and gleaming from old rain. He doesn’t rush. Just walks, one boot in front of the other, hoodie pulled up, head down until he stops at the mouth of an alley and pulls a cigarette from the crumpled box in his pocket.

He lights it with a practiced flick of a cheap lighter, the flame briefly painting his fingers in gold before vanishing. Smoke curls from his lips as he tilts his head back to the sky, searching past the flickering streetlamp and cable wires above. Nothing. Not a single fucking star. As always.

he mutters, voice dry and low, meant for nobody. The cigarette bobs at the corner of his mouth, smoke ghosting upward as he takes another drag before stuffing his free hand in his hoodie pocket and continuing on his way.